Page 11 of The Road to You
I wasn’tsure what I thought his house would look like, but I should have known it would be really nice. His driveway was huge enough to build a house on. He told me to pull in behind his car.
“You gonna get out, sweetheart? Come on, so I can put my shit in the house. My truck is in the garage anyway.” His voice knocked me out of my moment of admiration.
I nodded then climbed out. He put a code into a keypad lock on the door. After it did a little beep, he pushed the door open. I followed him wherever he was taking us.
“It’s about damn time, nigga! We was waiting for your ass to come home so you could… oh, shit. What’s up, sis?” Aaron had a goofy smile plastered on his face with his eyes bugged out.
He and Derrick sat on a couch in what I assumed was the living room. Both of their eyes were on me. It was clear they had a tight relationship if they had access to each other’s houses.Wait, they might all live together.
“Hi, Aaron and Derrick. It’s nice to see you two again.” I pointed between all of them. “Do you all live together?”
Euri’s face gave me the answer before his words did. “Hell fuckin’ no, we don’t live together. We’re grown ass men.” He pointed at Aaron. “He lives next door on the right, and Derrick lives on the left.”
“Sis, what you doing here?” Derrick changed the subject. “Don’t tell me you let this nigga lock you in.”
“She’s here, ain’t she?” Euri’s face tightened. “Stop playing with me. We’re about to go pick up our baby from day care. Don’t be here when we get back, either, because we only cooking dinner for two.”
Euri was a man who liked to have control. That could be a double-edged sword when it came to dealing with a person with my background. He didn’t know shit about my past, and I couldn’t drop it on him yet, or we’d be estranged by day six. “We’re cooking dinner now?” I mumbled.
“I’ll see y’all niggas later. Don’t be here when we get back.” He put his hand in mine, then led me to a door that was off the kitchen. His big-boy truck was impressive. “Let me help you up in here.”
I had to hop up into his truck, even with his help. He wouldn’t have to worry about me ever asking to drive this monster. When he climbed in, I turned my body in the seat toward him. “With all the height on this truck, we could have taken my van.”
He put his right hand on my thigh, leaned toward me, then kissed my lips. I deepened the kiss, and he let me.This moving fast thing is fun.When we pulled back, his deep smirk hit harder than the kiss did. “You can’t be my passenger princess if your ass is driving. Put the address in the GPS so we can get our baby.”
“Here you go with that our baby thing,” I said as I put the address into the GPS. “I guess it’ll be great not being a single mother anymore. Our baby got bills, sir.”
Per the GPS, the day care was only fifteen minutes away. Usually, when I pulled up for curbside pickup, they brought Casper out. Since I was in a different vehicle, I had to go inside. Of course, Euri went in with me. Hell, he had to help me out anyway.
“Bruqlyn, we didn’t see you out there,” Karen said when I walked in the door with Euri on my heels. She told Candice to get Casper. “Who is this?” Her nosy ass asked Euri directly instead of me.
When Euri’s cheeks rose like he blushed, I felt a little twinge. Yeah, I didn’t like that. “This is my man, Euri.” That was all theintroduction needed before Casper came flying down the hall. “Hey, boy! Did you have fun today?”
From the corner of my eye, I noticed Euri and Karen engaged in conversation. I wasn’t going to worry too much about it. Candice and I talked about how well my baby did today and the fact that he might have a little girlfriend. After she told me that Princess the pit was offering her doggy cooch up to my fur son, it made me grateful that I had him fixed a long time ago. Ain’t no grand puppies coming over my way.
Woof! Woof! Woof!I grabbed Casper’s collar when he jumped at Euri moving toward me. He was not friendly to any man that I didn’t introduce him to. If I introduced him to a man, and he still wasn’t cool, that was my clue to leave said man alone. Dogs had an uncanny sense of evil, just like babies.
“Hey! Calm down, Casper. He’s my friend,” I assured him. When I glanced up at Euri, I saw no fear, so that was a good thing. “He’s protective of me,” I said to Euri as I held Casper.
He smiled, took a step closer, then squatted down. “As he should be. What’s up, Casper? You protecting Mama like you’re supposed to? That’s what you do when I’m not around.”
My baby hesitated for a moment before he stretched his nose to smell Euri’s hand. I watched both closely to get their genuine reactions toward each other. When Casper’s whole back side shook to complement his wagging tail, I knew Euri was in there. Euri told me to let go of the collar. I thought twice about it but went with it. In the blink of an eye, Casper was on his back, getting his belly rubbed.
“I have a feeling that both of you are going to get on my nerves,” I said after I stood over them. I could tell that my baby was, in fact, going to be our baby soon. “I’m ready to go, gentlemen.”
Euri laughed before he stood. “Don’t tell me that you’re jealous of me and my son’s budding relationship.” He wrappedhis arm around my waist, then pulled me into him. “Don’t be jealous, sweetheart. You can have my love too.”
“Well, damn,” Karen loudly mumbled. When she realized that we heard her, she giggled as only a nosy, side bitch qualified heifer could. “You got a good one there, Bruqlyn.”
“Yeah, she does, and God can do it for you too,” Euri said with a wink. Karen didn’t look pleased at his notion. He grabbed Casper’s leash and my hand, then we coolly walked out.
I laughed all the way to the truck. “Now she’s going to side-eye me when I come pick him up. I need to warn Norma and Grant before they go pick him up, just in case Karen gets snippy.”
“Who’s Norma and Grant?” Euri asked as he helped me into the truck after Casper was in.
I waited until he got in before I answered. “They’re my neighbors in the RV park. They help me a lot, and I adore their daughter, Majesty. You’ll meet them someday, if you last that long.” I turned my lip up to stop myself from laughing, but it didn’t work.
His face was tight. “Your ass likes to play with it. I guess you’ll be inviting them over to dinner soon.”
